Alot and his companions rowed the magical boat for several hours through the late night waters.
Cai'luin, blindfolded, asked, "Are we close?"
Alot looked around at the endless expanse of sea, "Honestly, I'm not sure."
A few more hours later, there was a loud thump as something large bumped against the hull of their boat. There was another bump. Several goblinoids covered in sea-weed and barnacles popped their heads out of the water.
"Hyoo-mans! You are not welcome in this waters! You will leave or you will die!""
Alot said, "We wish to speak with Zrunkuc The Red, Archmage of the Koalinth to negotiate the release of a prisoner."
"No! You will leave or you will be destroyed!"
CHAPTER 68
"THE MARID'S RANSOM"
The Crew of the Sea Ghost:
There is a big adventure gap between the end of Tammeraut's Fate (level 9) and the beginning of the Styes (level 11) so I'm filling it with short adventures and side-treks and player's choice.
- Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
- Patriarch Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.
- Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
- Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.
There is a big adventure gap between the end of Tammeraut's Fate (level 9) and the beginning of the Styes (level 11) so I'm filling it with short adventures and side-treks and player's choice.
This week, I'm adapting a low-level adventure called the Secret of Forsaken Peak, Part 1: the Goblin Mine. I moved the entire mine to a sea-mount underwater. I replaced all the goblins with koalinth and all the worgs with hunter sharks. All the regular wolves became reef sharks. All the ogres became merrows. The bullette became chuul. The fire elemental became an earth elemental. References to dragons and Tiamat became kraken and Olhydra. Etc. I also increased all the traps from 1-4th level to 10th level, increasing their damage and DCs.
Aella's Brush with Death
Two days ago, the crew of the Sea Ghost were sitting at a table at the Wicker Goat, staring at a deck of cards. A gleaming sword sat in its scabbard on the table next to Alot.
Aella walked in and saw the others looking at the cards, "What's going on?"
DM Note-
Aella's player had missed the last three weeks so she was not present last week during the drawing of the Deck of Many Things. The group decided to give her an opportunity to draw as a flashback.
Cai'luin explained, "It's a deck of magical cards. Draw as many cards as you want. Half the cards yeild fabulous treasures. The other half inflict terrible curses. We've each drawn one or two cards. Want to draw?"
Aella considered her options, "Okay, sure."
Corvid held up his pale hand, "Wait! Before you draw, could you maybe loan me three thousand gold pieces? I seem to have misplaced my coin and I have a horrible feeling that my footlocker will be similarly empty."
"Um. Sure?" replied Aella.
"In fact," added Cai'luin, "Its probably not a bad idea for you to sign over your land deed and all your possessions to one of us for a while. Just in case."
Aella scrunched her face in suspicion, "I don't know..."
Corvid sighed, "Don't laugh. That's what happened to me. I have a feeling that whatever magic that powers the cards wouldn't fall for your legal trickery, Cai'luin."
"Just give me the cards." said Aella.
Aella drew two cards. She flipped over the first card. It was The Key.
A magic dagger appeared on the table in front of her.
She flipped over the second card. it was the Skull.
She counterattacked with a magical lightning bolt. The bolt struck the Avatar of Death in the chest. The robed figure arched its back in pain and disappeared in a purple burst.
Aella had won.
Lankus Kurrid, proprietor of the Wicker Goat tavern, shouted his annoyance, "Hey! No magic duels in the tavern!"
Aella apologized and summoned a tidal wave to douse the small fires that burned where her lightning bolt had struck the wooden frame of the tavern. The tidal wave flooded the tavern up to everyone's knees before subsiding, leaving everyone with wet feet and shins.
"Sorry!"
She examined her dagger. It had a saw-toothed edge and a black pearl nested in its pommel. She took the dagger and shoved it in her waist sash with her other dagger.
Alot replied, "We came here to speak with the archmage."
Koalinth Patrol
Cai'luin offered some advice to Alot.
The Koalinth soldier shouted, "The ol'daac scum will be silent or we will kill it!"
Alot whispered to Cai'luin, "Better keep it quiet for a bit. Let me do the talking. You too, Aella."
Alot turned to the solder and reiterated his demand to speak only with Zrunkuc The Red, Archmage of the Koalinth. He informed the soldier that he was expected and suggested that the archmage would be displeased with the soldier if it were discovered that the meeting was delayed because they were turned away. He showed the soldier that they came unarmed and unarmored.
The soldier replied that the archmage would never come to the surface to meet with air-breathers.
Alot informed the soldier that all present were, in fact, capable of meeting with the archmage on his own terms at the deepest depths.
The soldier considered this and ordered the party to follow him to a neutral location in "the Old City".
Alot agreed. Everyone jumped overboard and Alot said the magic word that transformed the small boat back into a small wooden box which he promptly placed in a pouch.
They followed the patrol down into the inky depths of the ocean.
Warlord Tuuk
The patrol led the party to the ruins of an ancient underwater city - not a human city that had sunk beneath the waves - a city built underwater by koalinth long ago that now lay in ruins. They were brought into an old temple.
The soldier that led them said to Alot, "This was once a great city of our people - before it was destroyed by the ochs!" He glared at Cai'luin, "Before the Haar Shol'dec! The Great Culling! You will wait here while we send for the archmage. If he refuses to see you, we will kill you."
About an hour later, a figure appeared through a rift in the back wall of the temple. It was an armored koalinth bearing a harpoon. He spoke in Common.
"I am Warlord Tuuk. What business do you have with the archmage?"
"I will determine if you will speak with the archmage."
"We have come to negotiate for the release of one of your prisoners - a Marid named Emir Farzad, the Most Opulent and Pearlescent."
"I have never heard of him. We have no such prisoner. But if we did, such a prisoner would be very valuable and such a request would come at a great price. What would you offer as ransom?"
"What would you desire?" asked Cai'luin.
"THE FILTHY OCH WILL NOT SPEAK! That we tolerate the presence of the filth in our most sacred of temples is a courtesy - but DO NOT ALLOW THE FILTH TO INSULT US WITH ITS POISONOUS SPEECH!"
Alot looked at Cai'luin and cleared his throat. Cai'luin became silent.
Alot apologized and restated the question.
Warlord Tuuk replied, "You could start by killing every filthy sea-elf in the Azure Sea and destroying the palace at Manaan."
"That is not on the table." replied Alot.
"Then perhaps we would be satisfied with the death of King Pelagius, his children Aegon and Nix, and allow us to execute Princess Aella here and her companion, Master Cai'luin, nephew to the king."
Aella and Cai'luin exchanged worried glances.
"Oh, I know exactly who you are, your highness! You see, we know everything that happens within the royal palace of Manaan, for we have spies living among you."
Alot interrupted the warlord, "Perhaps you can name a ransom that does not involve the sea-elves."
"That is our price!" demanded Tuuk.
"Look," said Alot, changing tactics, "Since you don't know about the marid prisoner, it is obvious you don't know what's really going on. We came here to speak with the arch-mage. He is expecting us. We are willing to wait as long as is necessary. If you want, as a sign of our good faith and our intentions, we would surrender ourselves to your custody. Keep us in a prison cell until the arch-mage is ready. As you see, we cane unarmed and unarmored."
Warlord Tuuk countered, "You are armored!"
Alot said, "I am a sentinel. I cannot remove my armor. I cannot help that."
Warlord Tuuk considered this, "Very well. My soldiers will escort you to a prison cell. I will decide what to do with you later."
Two Hours in a Koalinth Prison
Captain Alot and the others were bound and their heads were covered by hoods. They were taken inside an underwater structure. When the hoods were removed they found themselves placed into prison cells. Each cell was ten feet square. They were separated from each other but each shared a cell with another individual. Althrough their hoods were removed they remained manacled. Alot was placed with a locathah. Cai'luin was housed with an sea-elf named Bubo. Aella found herself with a mer-man named Salas. Corvid was placed with another sea-elf. The cells lined the wall of a large room with a large pillar in the center that blocked visibility to the far side of the room. The guards could be seen outside the bars at the entrance in one corner of the room. They came with no weapons and armor though Cai'luin's lute and magical bag of holding had been confiscated.
The team spent two hours waiting in their cells. Cai'luin and Aella got to know their cell-mates. Corvid ignored his cell-mate and spent most of the time unsuccessfully trying to break his manacles. Alot tried to interact with his locathah cell-mate but the fish-creature said only "Murr". As a result, Alot started calling him "Murr".
After two hours a guard entered the cell-block with a box. He went from cell to cell opening the box. The box was full of chum, entrails, blood, and small scurrying fish. The prisoners lapped up the billowing mess and caught the small fish.
When the guard came to Alot's cell, Alot reached one arm out of the cell and grabbed the guard, pulling him close and putting him in a choke hold.
DM Note-
There are no rules in D&D for a choke hold. So I had Alot make a Grapple, which he succeeded, and follow up on subsequent rounds with unarmed attacks. Only, instead of punches, we described it as a hold with hit point loss from being choked.
The guard called out in alarm and ineffectually punched back at Alot but was soon choked to unconsciousness. Alot was dismayed to learn that the guard carried no keys.
From across the cell block Cai'luin waved his hands and said a magic word and Alot's cell door magically opened. Alot put the guard in the cell and asked Murr to join him. The blank-faced glassy-eyed fish-man simply muttered, "Murr" and stayed in his spot. Alot shrugged and turned to face the next problem.
The guards at the entrance heard the commotion. One guard banged on a loud gong while the other grabbed his weapons and swam in to engage Alot. Cai'luin waved his hand and said another magic word and the koalinth guard stopped banging the gong. He looked off into the distance with a vacant stare and a slight smile.
Cai'luin magically opened Corvid's cell. Corvid exited and made a gesture with his hands. He formed a sword of shadow out of thin air and killed the guard.
A hulking brute of a mer-man - an aquatic ogre known as a merrow - emerged from a nearby corridor in response to the banging gong. He quickly entered the cell block to engage with the escapees. Cai'luin sang a song of dissonant whispers and the merrow became frightened. The merrow retreated to the far corner of the cell block. Alot and Corvid converted on the merrow and attacked with fists and shadow-blade. Aella created a magical tidal wave resulting in a massive hammer of water that slammed into the ogre-like merman. Corvid finished him off with his deadly blade of insubstantial shadow.
Corvid retrieved keys from the fallen guards and opened Cai'luin's cell. Cai'luin removed the bag of holding he had hidden on his back under his shirt, within which he had been carrying the following items:
- Alot's magical dragon warhammer
- Corvid's magical sword "Faithkeeper"
- Corvid's plate armor
- Cai'luin's magical rapier "Robots are Tone Deaf"
- 1 packet of dust of disappearance
- 1 potion of lesser restoration
- 2 potions of greater healing
- Aella's gauntlets of ogre power
- Aella's wand of magic missiles
The weapons had been carefully wrapped in blankets to prevent the rupture of the bag of holding.
DM Note-
I allowed the players the use of Flashbacks - a rule I ported over from Blades in the Dark. They could spend their inspiration point for a flashback in which they reveal that something that had happened earlier was, in fact, part of a clever ruse that they had planned for.
In this case, I had earlier told Cai'luin that they had confiscated his bag of holding containing everyone's gear. At this moment, Cai'luin's player said, "I use my flashback!" With the help of the others, he told me that the bag they had confiscated was in fact a fake! It was filled with some rocks and gold coins to keep them occupied and fooled. He had actually tied the real bag of holding with everyone's equipment to his torso and it laid flat against his back under his shirt, Die Hard style!
GENIUS! It was EXACTLY how I was hoping they'd use their flashback!
Cai'luin distributed the smuggled equipment and Corvid returned to the bard his lute.
The gong-guard was still under Cai'luin's spell. Cai'luin asked him to confine himself within a cell. The guard happily complied. Afterwards they went cell-to-cell searching for their target- the Emir.
Escape
Alot went cell-to-cell with the keys. He found no marid. The cells did match the vision he received in the magic mirror so he was confident he was in the right place, though he could not be sure in which cell the emir had been kept.
He picked the cell he thought was the most likely candidate. Alot asked the mermaid within if she was the emir in disguise. She refused to speak. Alot told the mermaid that they had been sent to free the emir and that it was safe to reveal his true identity.
The mermaid disappeared in a cloud of air bubbles and coalesced into the aquatic djinn known as a marid - it was the Emir Farzad!
"Alot! My good friend! It is so wonderful to see you again! Please, if you could my old friend, remove these pesky golden manacles so that I might be on my way."
"No can do," said Alot, "First you have to put on THESE golden manacles."
Farzad looked aghast, "Oh, HE sent you to collect me, did he? No! I will not join you!"
Alot said, "You'd rather stay here as a prisoner of the arch-mage? Your prison back at the lighthouse didn't seem too bad."
Farzad narrowed his eyed, "You do not understand. I escaped the will of the SHAH! For that I will TRULY be punished! I do not anticipate a friendly reunion!"
"Look!" said Aella, joining the conversation, "We're escaping now. If you want to come with us, you'll have to put on these manacles."
Farzad sighed, "Fine!" He held out his wrists. Alot clapped the Shah's manacles on top of the manacles of the arch-mage. Farzad rolled his eyes.
With all the prisoners, save that idiot Murr, freed from their cells and the surviving guards locked within, the crew of the Sea Ghost, with their marid captive, and twelve escaped prisoners, made their way out of the cell block.
Koalinth Patrol
The large group moved out of the cell block and up the inclined corridor to a Y-shaped intersection. There was a door to the right and one to the left. They chose left. Behind it was a small guard post with two koalinth. The two guards were quickly dispatched and the large group was told to stealthily but hastily move ahead.
The found a corridor at the read of the guard post turned right and presented a door ahead and a corridor to the left that sloped up. They took the corridor and and opened a door. They were in a four-way intersection where a long wide hall met the beginning of a rough-hewn mine that sloped down. Ahead of them was another long corridor. The corridor ahead and to the right contained several koalinth guards holding onto riding harnesses attached to large man-eating sharks. The harnesses allowed the koalinth to hold on with one hand and be carried along with the sharks as well as direct the shark's movement and actions.
The guards rushed the escaping prisoners at the door and brutal melee ensued.
The door became a choke point as the crowd of escaping prisoners prevented escape to the rear and the press of sharks and guards prevented advancement in the front. To make matters worse, Aella and Cailuin were busy preventing the emir Farzad from escaping. Their position at the bottom of the inclined corridor prevented them from gaining line of sight on the fight at the intersection.
More sharks and guards joined the fray from the mines to the left. Soon the intersection was filled with billowing clouds of red blood in the water, dead koalinth, and dead sharks as Alot and Corvid carved a deadly path through the defenders.
Cai'luin spoke a magical charm and one of the sharks became friendly. Cai'luin spoke to the shark, an ability many sea-elves possess, and convinced it to turn on the other guards to protect its new friends.
With the advanced of an additional wave of reinforcements, Corvid said a prayer and was soon surrounded by a swirling vortex of spiritual ravens. The ravens tore into the sharks and guards, clearing the way. To Cai'luin's dismay, the ravens killed his new shark friend.
The entire time, Emir Farzad made repeated attempts to pull against Aella's grasp and escape. He managed to escape a few times but each time Cai'luin and Aella were able to quickly grab him.
DM Note-
Farzad would succeed at his escape attempt, no small feat against Aella's gauntlets of ogre power, but each time he'd try to move away Aella and/or Cai'luin would make a grapple as an opportunity attack and re-establish the grappled condition. But he kept trying in the hopes that one time they'd fail.
Aella was finally able to make her way up to the top of the corridor where she was able to cast a magical lightning bolt down the corridor before them, killing several koalinth guards and sharks.
The one surviving guard and shark made an escape down a side passage to the left. The only remaining shark fled to a door at the end of the corridor but was unable to escape.
Into the Mines
Corvid followed the escaping guard down the corridor and into the mines. There he saw a large dark cavern. In the distance he could hear the sound of dozens of prisoners digging and two lumbering shapes used as underwater pack animals.
The paladin of death was soon joined by Alot and Cai'luin. The trio killed the escaping guard. Alot looked around at the additional prisoners, each chained to the wall so that they could not escape their labor.
Alot sighed in frustration, "I guess we have more prisoners to free."
To be Continued...
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